Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker admits he wasted no time in agreeing a new six-year contract because he has confidence and trust in the club and has "found purpose" in his life.
The Brazil international has won the Champions League and Premier League since joining from Roma for €66 million in July 2018 and, as one of the key senior players, Liverpool were keen to tie him down to a long-term deal.
“I didn’t waste too much time to think about that,” he told liverpoolfc.com.
“It’s something we just built in those last three years: the confidence, the trust that I have in the club and the club has in myself.
“For me professionally, it’s the best decision. It’s the same decision as I took when I first came here. Since I arrived here, I started to win trophies with this amazing team, with this amazing group. I started to develop myself in many aspects in football, in my life.
“We found a purpose in our life here and I’m really, really happy to continue wearing this shirt. I’m really glad that I can keep going on with my work here, doing a good job here, so I’m really happy to make this decision – that is not hard for me.”
While Alisson has won domestic football’s two biggest honours – plus the Fifa Club World Cup – he is determined to make sure that is not the end of the silverware.
“We have to set goals and we have to set them high – winning everything that we are playing [for]: the Champions League, Premier League, the cups, everything. I think we can start from there,” added the 28-year-old.
“But obviously winning depends on what we will put on the pitch, what we will give on the pitch and we have to give 100 per cent at least. If we can push harder, we will go.”
Alisson is the third player in a week to commit his future with defender Trent Alexander-Arnold and midfielder Fabinho also signing contract extensions of four and five years.
There are more planned with Virgil Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Andy Robertson all in line for new deals as the club continue their policy of focusing on securing the futures of the players they have rather than investing heavily in the transfer market.
Alisson and fellow Brazil team-mates Fabinho and Roberto Firmino will all feature in friendlies against Bologna in Evian on Thursday.
Cruciate ligament
Van Dijk will step up his comeback as well but says s he does not yet know when manager Jurgen Klopp will clear him for Premier League action.
The Netherlands captain is likely to add another half an hour to the 20 minutes he played against Hertha Berlin last week in his first appearance since rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in October.
However, with the club being cautious over the return of him and fellow centre-back Joe Gomez, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in November, there appears to still be some way to go before the pair are passed fit for competitive duty.
Liverpool’s league season starts at Norwich a week on Saturday but Van Dijk is just taking things day by day after so long out.
“I’m doing well. It’s obviously been a tough pre-season, coming back from such a long time to be playing and training with the boys again is a big thing,” he told liverpoolfc.com.
“After the [Hertha] game, I was empty, drained. I’d played 20 minutes but it wasn’t because of the game, it was because of everything that had happened the whole week and the whole day.
“We are in close contact with Andreas [Kornmayer, head of fitness and conditioning] making sure we are giving the right feedback: we have to be honest with ourselves, and that’s how we are where we are at the moment.
“The same goes now for Thursday; I’ve heard we’ll play at least 30 minutes, but it could be maybe longer, and then we just build it up.
“We have another friendly which I am looking forward to at Anfield, of course, at the weekend or on Monday, one of the two, so I will get more minutes then if things go well.
“Then the league will start. At the end of the day, it’s all about what the manager wants and we will see how it progresses.”
Midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who joined the squad last week after his Euro 2020 involvement with Spain, will not feature on Thursday due to a minor injury issue.
